they shot the whole thing in three days. ♪ i'm brianna keilar at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. hope you have a great night and a great week. ♪ path of destruction. a powerful tornado strikes mississippi. they are still assessing the damage right now. >> bracing for more, people still digging out from the northeast blizzard. now they face another potential weather threat today. >> stranded at sea. thousands of cruise ship passengers right now waiting for help after a fire leaves them adrift in the gulf of mexico. >> we're arguing whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. >> nothing but fun. the band grabs two trophies including song of the year at the grammys. good morning.

welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. it's monday, february 11th. down south the painstaking cleanup is getting underway this morning. a monster tornado ripped through southern mississippi overnight tearing apart homes, businesses and causing dooj a university campus. at least a dozen people were injured. a storm chaser caught this unbelievable sight. a funnel cloud on the move, about 100 miles south of jackson. according to the national weather service, this tornado was believed to have reached three quarters of a mile in diameter. hattiesburg took the brunt of a series of twister on sunday causing phil bryant to declare a stated of emergency. victor what is it like there this morning? >> reporter: i'm on the west end of hattiesburg on the campus of the university of southern mississippi. look at this building.

this building is more than 100 years old. see the top corner? that's the desk of the alumni director. this is some of the more dramatic damage on the campus. there are about a half dozen -- we know that when this came through, it caused injuries around the area. we've been told the latest numbers from the emergency management here up to 60 injuries reported to local hospitals. only ten of those were severe enough to be transported to those hospitals. no major injuries, no deaths. we sue immediately after this storm the videos pop up on youtube. the storm described as being three quarters of a mile wide ripping through the community. homes damaged. roofs being ripped off buildings. we also know the schools here, public schools, grade schools are closed today because of some

of the buses at the bus barn had been damaged. at this campus, there are no classes monday and tuesday because of mardi gras. again, very dramatic damage here. >> victor, amazing pictures down there. victor blackwell, thank you very much. just as the northeast starts to dig out from the weekend's history-making blizzard, the hardest hit state is bracing for more potentially dangerous weather. freezing rain is expected in parts of the state today. snow piles play freeze and become the equivalent of a jersey barrier. comparing the snow to actual concrete walls. getting around won't be only tough in connecticut. crews worked through the night to clear a stretch of new york's long island expressway and have city-bound lanes open this morning for rush hour.

the l.i.e. is the main way into the city from long island. so we are all over this big digout. indra petersons is in long island, george howell is in hamden, connecticut. we begin in boston where the big concern is power outages, how to get all of those folks out. indra, good morning. >> good morning. yeah, today it is also about getting back to normal. we still have 120,000 people this morning without power. temperatures are cold. tons of snow is on the ground. huge heaps of snow. today we have a snow emergency and school is still closed as the city takes one more day to clean out the snow. what you mentioned earlier is a weather charge today. a warm front is pushing through. highs will be in the mid 40s. a lot of the snow is expected to melt. before we get there, we will talk about more snow, several inches is possible and even freezing rain. so everyone is trying to get to

work this morning. not seeing too much out here. it looks like people are listening to the warnings. when this does start to melt, there could be snow blocking the drains or ice blocking the drains, so that is a concern. logan is finally operational, but with the icing this morning and heavy rains i wouldn't be surprised to see backup there as well. >> indra petersons, thank you very much. the eastern part of long island took a thrashing in the storm. crews are racing now to open part of the long island expressway for the morning rush. the westbound lanes heading into the big apple are now clear. but hundreds of cars were abandoned in the snow on the l.i.e. due to the heavy snowfall. alison kosik joins us now from

ronkokoma, new york. >> it's monday morning, people are trying to get to work and part of the long island expressway, the reyes bound side is closed. the westbound side, the part that heads to new york city, that is open. the cars are going. but if you're lucky enough to get to the highway, that's a great thing. the side streets are a different story. they barely have been plowed. look at how deep this snow still is days after this blizzard hit. i talked with one person this morning. he said it took him one hour to go ten miles, just to give you an idea about how tough it is to travel on these side streets. look at that big truck over here. it just got stuck here. we have a suffolk police officer trying to help that trucker. why about these highways close? we can go back to that video you showed, john. over the weekend, you know, this storm really hit on friday during rush hour. a lot of people were trying to head home, beat the storm but they clearly didn't because the snow fell so fast so hard. that's why those -- that's why

those cars got stuck like that. they had to close the highway so they could get those cars out and plow that snow. that is why the highway was closed from sunday morning up to the wee hours of this morning. finally the westbound, the lanes heading towards new york city, are open again. >> that's good news, but those side streets still a mess, man. no place got dumped on worse than the town of hamden, connecticut. how about 40 inches of snow? >> that's crazy. >> the big dig so far barely able to make a dent for those folks. george howell is there for us live this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. 40 inches of snow what do you do with that? where do you start? what you find here in hamden, there are plows everywhere. you scoop it up, pile it up. i want to show you over here, you see these big piles?

they're everywhere. there's snow all over town and it could take several days before crews are able to clear the roads. in the neighborhoods, you find a lot of the roads unplowed. so people have been stuck in their homes for the last 72 hours. you can go stir crazy waiting in your home like that. crews are doing their best. also on the highways, when i drove in on i-95, you can tell the crews have done a great job of clearing those roads, but there's a problem because when you're on the highway, sometimes the shoulder lane can go away. there's so much snow piled up on the side. we spoke to the mayor of hamden, just what it takes to clean out all the snow. take a listen. >> we have about 240 miles worth of road, as of right now, about 50% of them are impassable. people open their doors, they look out their windows, they see 40 inches of snow and realize this is not a snowstorm this is

a disaster this is an emergency. this is dangerous. >> reporter: today there is a real probability of rain in the forecast. when you get rain on the roads it makes for conditions like this you don't have to be a professional to moon walk out here. it's slippery. it's black ice. also on these mounds, you get rain on the mounds, you get rocks like that. so it will be several days before crews are able to clear the roads, before people get back to normal up here. you mentioned some people stuck at home for 72 hours. did they have a lot of power outages or are they okay? >> here in hamden, no, they didn't have electrical problems. but in different area there's were problems. at this point we understand a lot of people have gotten power back. but it will take several days before things get back to normal. . i can't imagine 40 inches of snow, but you seem to been joying it. >> we will go back to george for more of that moonwalk later.

so the south is really not out of the danger zone yet. the northeast is in for another wet morning with a wet commute. we'll have more on the weather forecast with alexander steel tracking the new threats this morning. >> they're moonwalking in the south because on the roads they're hydroplaning. we have issues in the south, midwest. here's the northeast, we were talking about the rain and snow coming down. you can see that. the pink delineates the sleep. temperatures in the 20s, 30s, 40s, so a variety of conditions in boston, rain and snow, temperatures about 30 degrees. by the arfternoon, the snow wil change over to rain. in new york, predominantly just rain. right now it's 35, 36 degrees. cloudy skies. a few showers for the afternoon. temperatures in the 40s. here's the deal. 15 reports of tornadoes from

last night in the south. today you can see this inundation of rain. it's a rain train. the biggest issues in the south today will be flooding. not so much an isolated tornado, a tornado threat nowhere near as strong as yesterday, but strong winds, heavy rain, we could see between three and five inches of rain between yesterday and the time this storm makes its way out on wednesday. >> all right. alexander steel, thank you. a little fun, not as much flesh at the grammy awards in l.a. last night. british folk rock band mumford and sons got top rock band, and fun were also named best new artist. almost everyone took the tone it down wardrobe request seriously. almost. >> as you can see, i read the mem

memo. >> didn't angelina jolie wear a leg dress like that at the oscars? >> you recall that. >> what if angelina jolie's leg and her leg would have a legoff? there's no losers in this battle. >> it was performances by kelly clarkson, justin timberlake, sting, bruno mars and rihanna that touched heads. not to mention carrie underwood's dress, and what everyone can't stop talking about, chris brown and rihanna cozying up to watch the show last night. baffling. also take home awards, record of the year went to somebody i used to know by gotye. "stronger" got best pop album. and the black keys won best rock

album. and frank oceans took home best urban contemporary. i love frank. 12 minutes after the hour. one minute you are relaxing on board a cruise ship. the next you are waiting for help after a fire knocks out the ship's engines. >> all the generators are working. >> still, to me on, it sounds like an ordeal for thousands of passengers adrift at sea. we'll have a live report. you can decide for yourself coming up. ♪ my friends are all ♪ my friends, they do surround me ♪ ♪ i hope this never ends ♪ and we'll be the best of friends ♪ ♪ all set? all set. [ male announcer ] introducing the reimagined 2013 chevrolet traverse, with spacious seating for up to eight. imagine that. with spacious seating for up to eight. the in their portfolio, isent of invesunexpected risk.to find

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what are the conditions, sandra? >> good morning. thousands on board that "carnival triumph" are still waiting for help and the coast guard said its cutter was expected to arrive there 1:00 this morning. a fire broke out yesterday morning in the engine room of the triumph. a carnival spokesperson said the fire was contained and no injuries were reported, but it left the shift drifting 140 miles off the yucatan peninsula. the triumph was on a four-day trip from galveston, texas to cozumel, but the fire left the engine dead. the more than 4,000 passengers and crew on board are now waiting for a tugboat to tow the vessel to progreso, mexico. the passengers were never without electricity, thanks to emergency generators and do have ample food and water on board.

even more food and beverages were being transferred yesterday on to the "triumph" from one of its sister ships. but here's a comment posted from one of the passengers. the passenger says we have no power at all, which means we can't use the toilets, wash our hands or take a shower. certainly not good conditions there if that's the case. two years ago "splendor" lost power and was adift frift for d off the coast of mexico. folks on that ship went without hot showers and toilets. it was eventually towed to san diego. the ship is expected to make it to progreso by wednesday and those on board will be flown back home at no cost to them. >> i had no idea their toilets were not running and they didn't

have a working water. that is a problem. >> the carnival cruise line is trying to compensate passengers. they will get a full refund and all expenses except for money spent at the casino and gift shops will be refunded. the next two departures for "triumph" have been canceled. those passengers will get refunded as well. we saw on facebook that a lot of disappointed passengers were upset that those trips will be canceled. >> i wonder why they canceled them, just as a safety precaution? >> i'm sure they want to check out the ship, make sure everything is working okay. >> i don't think i'd like being adrift in the gulf of mexico. >> i wouldn't mind being adrift if everything was working. if those backup generators were able to power everything. >> even if the bar is still open, i'm not sure without the toilets and showers --

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with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a get-well card at getwellduck.com.

welcome back. stock futures are pointing up. investigators are hoping to continue the momentum we have been seeing. >> you mean investors, right?

not investigators? >> probably investors not investigators. we care about your stocks, the investigators. >> i'm going to be in big trouble. also this morning, questions about your credit report. is it accurate? >> all sparked by a piece last night on questi"60 minutes." an ftc investigation found far too many credit reports had mistakes, 40 million americans have a mistake. 20 million have a significant mistake and some of these mistakes can be difficult to remove. one out of five americans has an error on their credit report, and 1 out of 10 errors might lower your credit score. this is so important. your credit score f you're going to go buy a car and use a loan to do that, buy a house and use

a loan to do that, you'll apply for a job, they'll run a background check, they'll run a credit history, too. so your credit score is less important than your credit history and making sure there are not mistakes on the credit history. so the "60 minutes" piece listed some horrible stories. the three major credit reporting agencies keep files on 200 million of us and traffic in our financial reputations. that's how "60 minutes put it." the cdia, this is the trade association that represents these three credit unions they sacred date reports are materially accurate 98% of the time. when they do contain mistakes our members work to resolve them quickly and to the consumer's satisfaction 95% of the time. the industry is highlighting its own studies that are much more

rosy than this ftc study that was highlighted last night. we'll get that study today and pore over it. go to annualcreditreport.com and check for mistakes. check for those mistakes 6 months, 9 months, 12 months before you think you will need to borrow money because sometimes it takes a while to wipe them off. my own reporting has found that a lot of people don't know until it's too late and it can be difficult to expunge them from the record. the whole issue last night brought that to the fore. the industry said it might be cherry picking. >> it's a good thing to know. >> you don't need to know the credit score, but the credit history. you node to make sure somebody else is not working under my social security in idaho or somebody else open a mortgage in my name. >> a year in advance is a good

thing because it's a daunting task. >> you can do it for free once a year, there's going to be a lot of places where you can click on to buy extra stuff. don't buy the extra stuff. >> thank you. >> excellent advice. extreme weather effecting millions of americans now. a tornado that caused widespread damage in mississippi and a brand new weather worry for people digging out from the northeast blizzard. we'll have live reports on all of this just ahead. esource we nd to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's is ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu. ♪

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buildings ripped and torn. reports of major damage after a

tornado strike in mississippi. >> a rogue ex-cop is still on the run. the lapd upping the ante with a huge reward for the accused killer's capture. >> new weather worries for the blizzard weary. rain coupled with melting snow could lead to a flood of trouble on some streets. unwelcomed news to say the leet. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it's 31 minutes past the hour. back to our developing story. several neighborhoods in mississippi are picking up the pieces literally after a violent tornado ripped through the town of hattiesburg, about 100 miles south of jackson. multiple buildings in and around the town have been damaged, at least a dozen people are injured. the university of southern mississippi's campus was also hit. let's bring in victor blackwell live in hat tieshattiesburg.

what's the story here there? >> reporter: this is the ogle tree house on the university of southern mississippi campus, this building is still falling apart. not more than an hour ago, cop nearby says a four-foot chunk fell off of the building. i want to show you another building. right over here, this brick building is one of the female dormitories on campus where students were at the time of this tornado passing through. we're told that classes are out today and tomorrow for mardi gras, but still you can see the damage here and nothing there. power still on. there we are told by mississippi power, at the height there were 13,000 customers without power. now that's more like 4,500. we'll get an update later today. the video popped up on youtube of this storm dragging through this tournament we're told about eight miles away at a high school, if there's significant damage as well. it stayed on the ground for some time. the governor of mississippi,

phil bryant, will be here on campus at 10:45 eastern for an update and to see the damage himself. cars damaged. homes damaged. debris all over this area of west hattiesburg. >> it's probably good that it was mardi gras because a lot of the kids were not there. thank you. the northeast only beginning to dig out from the historymaking blizzard and the danger is not over yet. parts of the region including the hardest-hit state, connecticut, bracing for freezing rain today. dan malloy warning about road conditions, saying snow may freeze creating sort of jersey barriers. the blizzard dumped more than three feet of snow on hamden, connecticut. the mayor there said many roads are still blocked. >> we have about 240 miles worth of road. address of right now, about 50% of them are impassable.

people open their doors, look out their windows, they see 40 inches of snow and realize this is not a snowstorm, this is a disaster. this is an emergency. this is dangerous. >> crews closed a stretch of new york's long island expressway yesterday to try to clear the road by this morning's rush hour. the l.i.e. is the main way into the city from long island. the north in for another slick morning. the south not out of the danger zone yet. the midwest has their own winter blast. alexander steel is tracking the new threats this morning. >> good morning. you know, you just mentioned the l.i.e. the l.i.e. just seeing rain now. to add insult to injury, rain, sleet, snow falling, wherever you are seeing ice which will only be about a tenth of an inch, snow moving through, about an inch of snow t should all change over to rain by noontime because temperatures will warm up. winter weather advisories until

about noon. freezing rain advisories until 9:00 this morning and then a changeover. the upper midwest, we've had a blizzard warning in the northern plains through the dakotas. that ends at about noon today. we have seen hefty totals. these would have seemed hefty compared to what we've seen. audubon, 18 inches. for the most part this is pretty much a done deal. area of low pressure moving out, just scattered snow showers around today, this morning. here's the story. 15 reports of tornadoes yesterday. the tornado threat, you can see strong thunderstorms, yes, but the rotation, we won't see that. so a low tornado threat today. heavy rain is the biggest story. potentially between yesterday and wednesday when the slow-moving system moves out, three to five inches. flooding in the south the biggest story here. less so kind of tornadoes today. >> five inches of rain, that's a lot.

alexander steel, thank you very much. new developments this morning in the manhunt for christopher dorner in southern california. a $1 million reward is being offered to anyone who has information that could lead to his capture and conviction. dorner is accused of killing three people including a police officer. despite his pledge to wage warfare against police officers and their families, the mayor of los angeles issued a stern message to dorner. >> let me be clear. our dedication to catching this killer remains steadfast. our confidence that we will bring him to justice is unshaken. this search is not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. i want christopher dorner to know that. we will not tolerate this reign of terror that has robbed us of the peace of mind that residents

of southern california deserve. >> nick valencia is in los angeles for thus morning in the middle of this huge manhunt. what's the latest? >> day five, no new leads in the manhunt for chris dorner, the ex-cop turned renegade, accused of killing three people in his vendetta against his former police department. that $1 million reward is pulled together by a group of businesses, private donors and community groups. its the largest offer ever in a criminal investigation in southern california. yesterday at a press conference, lapd police chief charlie beck told the public why they're offering so much money. >> $1 million. this is the largest local reward ever offered to our knowledge. some may ask why so large. this is an act, make no mistake about it, of domestic terrorism. this is a man who has targeted

those that we entrust to protect the puic. his actions cannot go unanswered. a society is defined by what it values. we value our law enforcement family. that's why the reward is so significant. >> and i spoke to the lapd this morning, john. they say there's been hundreds of tips that have come in since that reward was offered. the latest was yesterday afternoon at a lowe's department store in north ridge. that search turned up empty. you mentioned the hundreds of sightings. i understand there is a surveillance tape that caught an image of him near san diego monday morning of last week what do we know about that? >> cnn obtained this surveillance footage from an auto store near san diego. the most chilling thing about this, it was time stamped at 9:08 in the morning, 12 hours after the daughter of a retired

lapd off sicer was killed. it shows dorner appearing to dump items in a dumpster. more surprising is that this happened across the street from a police station. john? >> wow. interesting. nick valencia, thanks for that report. 38 minutes past the hour. tomorrow night president obama delivers a state of the union address. the first of his second term. administration officials say jobs and the state of the economy will be featured prominently in the address before members of congress and the nation. they say programs will be unveiled to create more jobs, n and strengthen the economy. >> stay with cnn for complete coverage of the president's speech and analysis from the best political team. it begins tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern time. >> you are the best we have. happy to have you there. it could be a break in the case of a young teenager, a

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we have new developments in the shooting death of 15-year-old hadiya pendleton in chicago. police have been questioning two men. pendleton was shot a week after performing during president obama's inauguration sell break. rig celebration. ted rowlands is in chicago and is following the developments for us. what can you tell us about these two men they're questioning now? >> well, they concentrated on the area where hadiya was murdered. what they did was talk to witnesses and through saturating

that area, detectives were able to come up with two people of interest. they are being questioned, being held for questioning at this hour. whether they've been questioned we don't know at this point. we will get more information from a news conference scheduled for later this morning. not only will the superintendent of police be at that news conference but we understand mayor rahm emmanuel will be there and the state's attorney. we will get more information on these two persons of interest at this point, not suspects, and there have been no arrests. this case struck a nerve not only here in chicago but across the country. michelle obama was here for hadiya pendleton's funeral over the weekend. hundreds of other people also showed up. this was a young girl, a 15-year-old girl who was a good student. going to a great school here in the chicago area. she had an absolutely bright future. came from a great family. and she was gunned down, ending

her life with such a great life to lead. it has promgt prompted people t enough is enough. we need answers to the gun violence problem in chicago. the first step in that is solving this young girl's murder and hopefully police are on the right track in that regard. this new development is seen as a positive one in the chicago area. mayor rahm emanuel called the parents of hadiya yesterday to tell them. >> let's not forget that hadiya was the 42nd person in the city this year to be the victim of gun violence. thank you very much. the president will visit chicago on friday. he is expected to address the rash of gun violence there. his pointman on the issue will be in philadelphia today selling the message. vice president biden will meet with police officials.

president obama is expected to give details about these proposals during his state of the union speech tomorrow night. so you are just waking up, you have questions about last night's grammys. >> a lot of questions. >> like who won? >> exactly. >> who managed to skirt the cbs dress code. >> even more important. >> we have all the answers coming up. what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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49 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. here is christine romans. >> homes and buildings shredded, families and businesses still assessing the damage after a powerful tornado ripped through the town of hattiesburg. a storm chaser shot this dramatic video of the funnel crossing the highway. the violent weather damaged parts of the university of southern mississippi and injured dozens. waiting and waiting and waiting for a tow. bad news for passengers on board

carnival cruise ship's "triumph." a fire broke out on the ship's engine room on sunday leaving it dead in the water. there are 4,200 passengers and crew on the ship, and nobody was injured. >> thank you very much. sunday night was music's biggest night. you can bet the artists were out in full force for what was a fun evening. >> there were some amazing performances. all the nominees seemed to walk away with something. nischelle turner has more. >> reporter: single performer dominated the 55th an ral grammys. the top prize, album of the year went to mumford and sons for babel. the grammys were in a fun mood, literally. the new york indy pop band won best new artist and song of the year for "we are young."

>> i don't know what i was thinking writing the chorus for this song f this is in hd, everybody can see our faces. we are not very young. >> goteya took home tan award. >> reporter: for the most part, everybody seemed to tone down the risque outfits, but there was a little leg. >> i did read the memo. ♪ >> reporter: the grammies have always been more about performances than awards, this proved to be a vintage year. backed by a big band, justin timberlake turned back the clock for his duet with jay-z. and carrie underwood dazzled in a dress with color.

♪ sting, rihanna and bruno mars fronted an all-star tribute to bob marley. ♪ fun weathered an indoor rain storm, elton john and mava staples led the salute to the late leyvon helm. ♪ l.l. cool j who kicked things off as the show's host ended the need leading an all-star rap session. ♪ nischelle turner, cnn, hollywood. >> looks like some great performances. >> it did. we missed it because we sleep. >> you can't go to bed at 7:00 and see some of that tough. another thing we'll have to -- we can't miss is the westminster kennel club dog show. it's like the grammys, oscars, super bowl, except it's for dogs it starts today at madison square garden.

more than 2,700 dogs enter and only one leaves best in show. it is fun. it's something everyone should go to. golden retrievers are the most popular entries, followed by labs, french bulldogs. but the scandal of the westminster dog show is a lab has never won. we love golden retrievers, we love labs, but they don't win. it's always the little lap dogs. there's this unfounded dominance for the terriers at the westminster dog show. it's a scandal. trust me. >> this year a lab will win. >> i hope so. always pulling for the real dogs. >> you got a lot of people angry. >> buzz on the web over some pda at the grammys between these two. we'll show you all the pictures coming up next. stouffer's is proud to make america's favorite lasagna...

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welcome back, everyone. 57 minutes after the hour right now. i'm john berman with zoraida sambolin looking at the top cnn trends on the internet. >> we'll start with a cozy looking picture. people are buzzing about chris brown and rihanna snuggling at the grammys, this just a few days after rihanna supported brown in a hearing connected to the time he beat her the night before the grammys in 2009. >> this does upset a lot of people. >> a lot of people judging them this morning. you decide for yourself. lots of stories to read about that. >> "argo" a clear front-runner heading into the oscars. the film continued its award season domination at the british awards, winning three trophies,

including best picture and best director for ben affleck. affleck not even nominated for an oscar. "lincoln" took home an award for daniel day-lewis. >> you want to laugh? we have late-night laughs. snl mocking cbs sports when the lights went out. take a look. >> i just received word that our own steve tasker on the sideline has some new information. steve? >> i don't know who told you that j.b. i'm willing to bet you made it up. suffice to say, i have no new information. back to you, j.b.. >> back to you, steve. >> you can't back to you me, i just back to youed you. back to you. >> right back to you. so, dan, news came out this week that you fathered a child in an extra marital affair.

>> come on. we agreed that was off limits. >> that was before, dan marino. >> come on. this is a new world now. we have to fill air time. we will have to admit to some stuff. >> "early start" continues right now. path of destruction. a powerful tornado strikes mississippi and they are still assessing the damage there. >> bracing for more. people still digging out from the northeast blizzard. they face another potential winter threat today. stranded at sea. thousands of cruise ship passengers are right now waiting for help after a fire leaves them adrift in the gulf of mexico. >> and nothing but fun. the indy band grabs two trophies including song of the year at the grammys. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it's monday, february 11th. it's 6:00 a.m. in the east.

we do have breaking news this morning. shocking news, really. pope benedict xvi isresigning. a spokesman will not reveal way. fatigue and possibly declining health over the past year, but, again, no reason has been given. he became pope in 2005. you will remember, he had been joseph rat singer, cardinal, a major figure at the vatican for years before he became pope benedict. german born. been pope for nearly eight years. nearly eight years and this is just a major, major bit of news this morning. coming out of the vatican, again, cnn confirming the pope will step down on february 28th, which is just a little over two weeks from today. >> and no clear reason. we're trying to get more details to share those with you. this is shocking. this is shocking, absolutely shocking. we'll continue to watch the

developments for you, folks. 6:00. the painstaking cleanup getting under way after a violent tornado ripped through mississippi tearing apart homes, businesses and even causing damage to a university campus. a storm chaser occasi e er -- l. capture these images. this is 100 miles south of jackson, mississippi. this tornado is believed to have reached three quarter of a mile in diameter. hattiesburg took the brunt of a series of reported twisters that pounded that region on sunday. causing mississippi governor phil bryant to declare a state of emergency there. so let's go to victor blackwell, live in hattiesburg. victor is working on a story for us and will get more details. i have to tell you, you was reading this morning because it's mardi gras, there are a lot of kids not on campus, so at the

end of the day, maybe they weren't subject to more injuries or deaths. there is a 100-year-old building on campus that was destroyed. victor blackwell -- yeah, we're having problems with victor, we'll continue to effort that and get him to you as soon as we possibly can. one minutes past the hour. in 30 minutes, we'll speak to lamar county district superintendent ben burnett. oakwood high school, a school in his distrukt was practically leveled. how students and parents are dealing with the lost of their school. historic blizzard has moved on. but danger not over yet. just as the north digs out, parts of the region bracing for the threat of freezing rain. danell malloy warning about the condition. the big piles of snow may freeze becoming the equivalent of a jersey barrier, a reference to

the big concrete barriers seen in new jersey. the l.i.e., main way into the city from long island. we are all over the big digout. indra petersons in boston. alison kosik on long island. we'll begin in boston. the big concerns, power outages and how to get around. let's start with indra. >> reporter: good morning. the story here today, trying to get back to normal. power outages, 120,000 people in the state of massachusetts without power this morning, not to mention the huge heaps of snow all over the city. so today schools are still closed. a snow emergency is still in effect as the city tries to get back to normal. they are focusing on residential streets. yesterday we had the sun, today, temperatures rise to 45 degrees. a lot of snow could get melt and get caught in the drains, and there are flooding concerns. the streets look good now, but

snow a few hours away, potential for freezing rain and eventually all of that will turn back into rain. more concerns for the city. the good news, logan fully operational, but with the potential for freezing rain, snow and the other weather concerns across the country, delays not out of the question. >> indra petersons, thank you very much. we'll be back to the blizzard in a second. first, the report -- >> breaking news. pope benedict xvi set to resign and we'll get more information from john allen now on the phone. what can you tell us? are you there? john, can you hear us? we're having some problems with the connection there, but we'll head back to him. we do know that the vatican is saying that pope is set to resign in february, they're not sharing any details why. but there there have been

reports -- i believe he's 85 years old and he's been in declining health. >> it is unusual for popes to resign. i don't think it has happened in 600 years. >> it's incredible. i think we have john allen back. john, are you there? >> i am. >> wonderful. what can you tell us about this? we were shocked to hear the vatican confirm that the pope is, indeed, set to resign in february. what do you know? >> this is indeed a stunning announcement and one that -- that -- to some extent has come out of the clear blue sky, and the vatican in this particular case, holds this very close to the vest. there will be a briefing from the vatican in 20 minutes. a statement from the pope, apparently going to be presented, which among other things, his intention to resign on february 28th. this, of course -- not quite unprecedented. but extremely rare.

the last pope resigned in 1415, and that was under pressure. the last pope that freely resigned, you have to go back to 1294. he laid the ground work for this a couple of years ago. he indicated that a pope could well resign if he felt his forces were lagging and he could no longer perform his functionses adequately. no indication at that time that benedict xvi attended to imply that to himself, but we now know that was in a sense anticipation of the decision -- the shocking decision that the vatican is going to be announced today. >> do we have any indication? are you hearing any reasons why, other than a lot has been said about his declining health, his voice hoarse, anything about that? >> there is no indication of an immediate health crisis, but we know his energies have been fwr gradually lagging for some time. he'll be 84 in april, and his

calendar has been increasingly restricted. they have been cutting back the number of public appointments he is taking and hesitating to schedule international trips, precisely out of his capacity to carry them out. so in that sense there, have been indications that the pope himself felt that his forces were beginning diminish, but as i say, there has been no hospitalization, no dramatic public collapse, nothing that would indicate that the moment was coming. this resignation, which, again, should take effect on february 28th, will trigger what the vatican calls a period which basically means that the preparations will now gun for a conclave of events, where the cardinals will gather to elect the next pope in tandem with that, beginning in full force today, the speculation about

been de benedict xvi will begin. >> and speculation will be rampant. it's the same process as when the pope dies. they bring the cardinals in after calling the conclave and elect the new hope. do you suspect this will have a different feeling? this hasn't happened in hundreds and hundreds of years and we have a living pope. >> that is the novelty, normally what happens when there is a papal transition, it's because the pope died. the kickoff events are the nine days of mourning, the official nine days of mourning, and there is a funeral mass. and that not merely in terms of symbolism we won't see this time, but to some extent the politics, let's remember the cardinal who presided over the funeral mass of cardinal joseph

ratzinger, and over the function of the vatican, he did such a masterful job that many people believed it propelled him to election as benedict xvi, there won't be those massive public events ahead of the conclave, the public performance during that period becomes much less important than the behind the scenes conversation that will go on as the cardinals of the world begin to gather here in rome. >> there will be speculation about who the current pope favors to be his success sore i imagine. >> benedict made it clear when he he talked about papal resignation in the past, he does not believe it would be appropriate, but people will try to read the tea leaves in terms of what benedict is thinking about this process may be. it should be said, one of the

questions over the years, about a resigned pope, precisely this, the potential in the church, where one faction to the church loyal to the new pope and one faction loyal to the old pope, so the extent to which once the successor is named, how benedict can both symbolically and substantively see the passing of the torch, that he is no longer in charge, a new pope involve. >> now, benedict xvi, not been around that long quite frankly, you look at all of the folks that were being looked at for that position in the past, any names that you think come to the forefront? >> well, i suppose if you did a survey of dinner tables in rome, where, of course this is always

a popular conversation topic, probably the most frequent name you would hear tipped as the possible candidate to be pope would be the current cardinal of milan, an italian by the name of angela scola, who comes out of the same theological school of the current pope, pope benedict, considered like pope benedict a very serious intellectual, a media savvy figure with a strong, popular touch, but in addition someone over the years who has developed a specialty of outreach and dialog with the islamic world through a foundation he created first in venice, which has gone global, and christian/must limb relations are among the top-shelve priorities, and whoever takes over as leader of the catholic church. that would be one name you are likely to hear a great deal about in the days to come, but an old saying in rome, he who goes into a conclave as a papal

front-runner comes out as a cardinal, you can't necessarily take to the bank that the names you hear mentioned in public are the ones being seriously considered by the cardinals once they are behind locked doors in the sistine chapel, swearing their oaths in latin and casting their ballots. >> let's talk more about pope been duct ibenedict xvi, let's about his legacy. what will be talking about when we look back? >> the headline will be a great intellectual who consolidated and continued the legacy of john paul ii. a boulder more confident catholic church, more willing to engage in public debates, but part of benedict's legacy will inevitably the scandals on his watch. particularly the exploding sex abuse scandals across the

catholic world, not just in the west and the united states, but other parts of the world, and also the -- the massive vatican leak scandal that rocked this place in the last couple of years, which led to sort of internal meltdown in terms of the aberrations of the place so on the one hand, a strong, confident leader, who presided, whether it's his fault or force of circumstance, over some of the most serious scandals ever to rock the vatican, an important and mixed legacy. >> john, you mentioned -- according to you and people who watch this very, very closely. much more closely than the rest of us really, he been giving some signs, signals, laying the ground work for the possibility of resignation. and he had some health issues as well and that could come as news to some people. we've seen a pope. most people who have seen a pope become infirm and struggle with

health issues for decades so the idea of resigning seems foreign to them. >> even pope john paul. >> pope john paul ii. >> yes, of course. the long twilight of john paul, his struggle with age and parkinson's disease, lingering effect of the 1981 assassination attempt are all played out in full public view, and john paul decided to use his illness and decline in a way as a teaching moment, that -- to show the world you can still be of value, still play an important role while being ill, suffering, and so on. that was john paul's particular way of handling the twilight of his life. benedict xvi, while i think certainly ahe certainly admiring john paul, thinks that's not the path that every pope takes.

some of the difficulties the vatican faced in recent years. internal disarray relating to the leaked crisis. the damage imposed upon the public image of the church by the sex abuse scandals and so on, it's clear that that has taken a toll on benedict xvi, he has struggled with that personally and it may well be that the people who have seen the cumulative effect of that, that the church needs a new lease on life and a fresh burst of energy, and at in this stage, he's simply not prepared to deliver. >> we just did get a statement from the pope, from the vatican, i have come to the certainty that my strengths due to my advanced age are no longer suited to adequate exercise of the ministry. this ministry, due to essential spiritual nature must be carried out with words and deeds, but with prayer and suffering. however, today's world he says you need the strength, which he does not have right now to go

on. >> it's certainly a brutal schedule they keep. so you can understand that, but really bizarre. as we were talking about pope john paul and how he struggled through so much illness. a lot of questions and hopefully we will get more answers here. thank you to john allen for weighing in so quick. 15 minutes past the hour. one minute, are you relaxing aboard a cruisesh ship, the nex you are waiting for help after a fire knocks out one of the ship's engines. that's the situation for thousands of passengers adrift at sea. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime. take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep.

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welcome back to "early start." major breaking news to tell you about. pope benedict xvi is resigning and we're just getting in a statement he made to his cardinals this morning at the vatican. it says "after having repeatedly examined my conscience before god, i have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, no longer suited to an adequate exercise

of the petrine ministry." his last day will be february 28th, and there have been reports of his fatigue and possibly declining health. this is over the past year. he is 85 years old. 86 in april. the last pope to resign was in 1415, that was 600 years ago. >> such a long time ago obviously, and so many questions right now. i believe we have someone on the phone. raymond orio, with the eternal word television network, covering faith and religion in this country right now. can you tell us what you think the significance of this announcement is? it comes as a shock to us this morning. >> look, it's shocking to me, and i have covered this pope his entire pontificate, but when he was in the previous office he held as cardinal ratzinger, i

had the only english interview with this pope at length before his election. it is curious to watch this unfo unfold. because at that time, cardinal ratzinger wanted to retire in 'the 90, '93, again in '96, up to '99. he declined each time, stopped himself and didn't retire, because of the example of the previous pope he told me in an interview, so to watch this -- i have to say, i'm taken attack by it as a journal and it's personally know itting the background and knowing his vision of wanting to reform the church and realizing he is side by side with john paul during his long convalescence, this is a pope that died before the world. taught the world how to die. a real shock to many catholics around the world and i think people of other faiths as well. and we'll see what happens.

in a moment, we're expecting the press conference. that will certainly give us more light. but no one was anticipating this. i spoke to a cardinal, and they had -- no one thought he was particularly feeble or in terrible health, but he was getting older. he was nowhere near the point that john paul was. >> we have a statement from the pope, and he says that his health has deteriorated to the extent that i have to recognize my capacity that i am unable to fulfill the requirements. we did see pope john paul die. so the monumental decision he's making. you spent time with him. do we think there is more to the declining health? >> well there, could be.

there could be. you know, i don't think there is any secret. pope benedict has always -- even cardinal ratzinger, very precious about his health. he a few health crises now and then, and bounced back pretty quickly from all of them and he's very intent on preserving his strength, which is why he did not maintain the public schedule john paul did. the one public audience per week. other than that he really -- did his admin straif work, played his piano, prayed in the garden. a very routine schedule he abided by which is why i find this additionally shocking. i know there was an intention to preserve his strength so that he could continue this office. the interesting thing, as i listen to this statement, john paul said at the time, when he asked him if he should resign, some cardinals were calling for his resignation, and he says a

father does not leave the family, so it will be interesting to see how pope benedict explains this to the flock at large, but obviously, one has to say he -- this is -- i'm sure a decision not made lightly. my sense is that the health crisis must be pretty serious if he is going to this drastic measure of resigning, and it's certainly going to be a dramatic event and moment that we will all be privy to. >> the catholic church -- >> it feels like we just did this. >> no doubt. and the catholic church still remaining in crisis declining membership, the sex abuse scandal that's ongoing, it's really an interesting time to step down. >> well, i would say this. i think that benedict has made even -- even during this reign, a lot longer than a lot of the cardinal who's elected him

thought. he has implemented an enormous number of reforms, including a reform of the mass that brought back some of the old practices that i think will continue deep into the next century if not beyond. so i think -- you see the vocations, there are bright lights, certainly the sex abuse scandal continues and the terrible revelations, but much of that is in the past decade and if you look forward, you are seeing seminaries full again. bishops who are taking responsibility, the full weight of their office seriously and a big part of that was called reform of the liturgy and the church at large. >> we're looking at live pictures right now of vatican city, st. peters basilica, and expecting a news conference from the vatican not too long. we'll bring whatever we can from there as soon as we get it. pope john paul ii says a father

never leaves his flock. one of the truly fascinating things about the move. there will be a living former pope, which is something no one alive has ever seen. hasn't really happened in 600 years, 800 years, depending on how you count. a staggering historical reality. >> absolutely, and the other amazing part of this is just as we move ahead, and i think we will do that, but inevitably this will be a conclave we are facing. pope benedict will have an enormous influence, no doubt, on who his success sore will be, and i can't imagine at this point that that isn't part of the thinking here, why he has his faculties and the ability to influence the future of the church, he wants to see that reform continue. reform started by pope john paul ii, what he called a new springtime of the church that would bring about a new

evangelization, where people would become more vibrant in their faith, more committed to it, and take it out to the world. and i think you will see some of that drama play out. we won't see much of it, but we'll certainly see the effects of benedict's presence in the conclave. i mean, that -- it's astounding. i am -- >> speechless. >> so were we. thank you so much for your time this morning. eternal word television network. spend some time with the pope. great perspective. >> much more to talk about this morning. other news. big news we just learned 20 minutes ago. pope benedict xvi, stepping down, resigning, effective february 28th. much more on this story. stay with us.

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historic breaking news this morning. for the first time in 600 years, a pope is retiring. pope benedict xvi. welcome back. i'm glad are you with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. this is something that none of us have heard before. a pope has announced he is resigning. pope benedict announcing to his

cardinals he is resigning due to age and declining health. we want to bring in eric, one of the writers behind our belief blog right now. this is such major news. surprising to so many of us. talk to me about pope benedict's health and his concerns about his health. something he's talked about over time. >> it's funny. normally when we face a situation like this, it's under much graver circumstances, keep in mind, when pope john paul died, he was in and out of the hospital. there was not something sudden about it, and, you know, reporting next week, talking about transition, because the pope was 85, and for no other reason than he's of an age where something horrible could happen at any moment. the fact that he has resigned. something so unbelievably unprecedented, indicates to me that there must be something incredibly serious with his

health. all indications that i had over the last two years is that the pope is very cautious about his health. i've heard any time he has -- as much as a tickle in his throat, they bring in a specialist to take care of him. assist you mentioned earlier today, he did not keep up a rigorous travel schedule like predecessors, he stayed at the vatican, stayed at the papal retreat in the summer months. not somebody on the road, hitting the pavement, pumping fists, not part of his roux teen because of his advanced age so the fact that he's stepping down indicates to me -- there is something -- something pretty wrong here. >> let me read you what he said again. he talked about his health and said it deteriorated that i recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. he calls it his incapacity. so interesting. >> yeah, it's fascinating and

keep in mind, when you are the pope, there is an enormous amount of administrative responsibilities on top of the spiritual responsibilities. head of an organization of a billion people, so a lot that goes into those responsibilities. you are also on the world stage, so you are consistently meeting with world leaders from across the spectrum. you have incredible responsibilities. both as a spiritual head, as head of a tiny small state and the organizational head of a billion people, so those responsibilities can weigh on a man incredibly hard and we saw that with pope john paul and how -- once he had parkinson's how quickly he deteriorated because of that. >> the fact he has had major crises while he's been pope and how the stress of that could affect his health. you know what i didn't know that i just read. he was the age of 78 and made him the oldest person to have been elected since 1730.

>> without being crass, he has been pope longer than a lot expected him. i don't think a lot of cardinals expected him to be alive this long. there was talk about him being a transitional pope to the next leader, someone to ride things out until they could sort things out and move on to someone who is -- the stronger, more impactful leader and who was supposed to sort of bide his time, and a time of great crisis for the church, and he has put in a number of reforms on things, but certainly faced an incredible amount of criticism for some of the work here, particularly in the united states and in places like ireland, where the sex abuse scandal is still raging on. >> the coed for of the cnn belief blog, which is such an important resource at times like this, eric, thank you for joining us.

>> we'll head over to london, and we have nic robertson. we're simply shocked by this. the statement from the pope that he is resigning on february 28th because of his declining health. what can you tell us about that? >> he is saying he needs to be in a good physical state and good mental state and recognized he's not really up to the task at the moment. which throws open the question, we have seen many popes, john paul in particular most recently, go through his final years as pope, in quite physical decrepekr decrepitude. is it mental frailty leading him to make this decision other than physical dpralifrailty? we'll be looking to see what they will see shortly that may throw or shed a little more

light on the nature of this decision. is it really a matter of physical health or mental health? this comes as a huge shock, but the church is well versed in how to move to the next step. time to prepare the 28th of february for the 120 cardinal who's are all under the age of 80 years who will be allowed to make the decision on who that next pope will be. there is time for them to come and gather. so the church is well versed in how to deal with this sort of eventualityity, albeit, we haven't seen anything quite like this for hundreds and hundreds of years. >> you say they have time to prepare. they never usually have this kin of time to prepare. usually what happens, a pope dies and they have to call a conclave. they know the pope is stepping down on february 28th and a time period for them to get their act together here. >> and we also have to know that the pope -- the vatican is such

they will know they are making this decision. they have known internally this is going to happen. of course, there have been no leaks about this. it's very clear this information has been tightly held, but normally when the pope dies, there would normally be nine days of mourning before the cardinals would begin to sit together. and make a decision on who the next pope would be. so they have really double that time almost right now. to moved a. this is an advantage for the church. >> as we say, unusual. this has not happened for 600 years. >> nic, do you think pope benedict xvi will weigh in on who his successor will be? >> the only indication so far, after he resigns, he said he will move into a period of prayer. so it's really unchartered territory. can he have a voice and say -- i

mean certainly among the cardinals, he will have cardinals who are close to him in particular, and he will have imparted his ideas about the future, and they will know who perhaps amongst cardinals embodies those ideas. so i think perhaps he will not be -- we don't know. it's unlikely it appears at this stage he would physically be allowed to be with the cardinals on making that decision. but he would have already prepared that ground, so to speak, in discusses with other cardinals, but he was viewed perhaps as being very old when he went into the job, perhaps just an interim to get through the period of all the abuse scandals, perhaps it's viewed he has done that. and there are many within the catholic faith who feel the church has turned quite conservative or looks toward a more con seventive future and hope a younger person can take over leadership and perhaps have a church that appeals more to

younger people, which, of course, in developed countries, something that the church feels very keenly at the moment. >> has struggled with. you mentioned something earlier, that i think is really key and critical here, state of mind. because in the statement it says the strength of my mind and body are necessary. strengths, in the last few months, has deteriorated that i have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. i know it's speculation on my part. but it's so unprecedented to walk away from being hope that you have to wonder whether there is frailty of mind involved. >> he has well has said -- or his spokesman has said he is aware of the gravity of the situation which tends to sort of tip an indication here. hence that -- having to say the pope is aware of the gravity. well, one would expect him to be. no one has done this in hundreds

of years so that indicates perhaps failing mental health to a degree. >> nic robertson, thank you. we'll take a pause from you right now. the vatican is holding its news conference right now. explaining the pope's resignation. we get simultaneous english translation. so let's listen. >> translator: a call for the cardinals who are in rome and who can participate. we have a wide range of a number of cardinal who's have seen that there were many cardinals in the room. surrounding the pope. the pope has chosen this location. and specifically the cardinals are schooled, where we are all gathered together in rome to make an announcement, which is

extremely important. the test to the announcement, i think it's not available. the pope has read the test in l latin, and we have the conciliatory celebration and we have translated it from latin to several languages so there is a translation as to the statement made by the pope. u.s. the brief declaration, about 15 minutes, and we've listened to the pope's announcement for a great deal. and we -- we think that as soon as we have more information

available and we make it available to you. as and perhaps u.s. necessait's for me to read this statement very clear. we have to see it word by word to understand the true meaning of the statement. he says that he has been searching his conscious, and he said it's a dope and profound personal decision he's taken before god, and in addition he was called to figure it out. and my forces are not -- >> we are listening to a press conference. this is live, and it is to discuss the fact that the pope

has decided he is going to resign on february 28th. completely unprecedented and a lot of dialog about this. we are listening right now as a spokesperson was saying that what he said this was a deep and profound personal decision that he has taken before god. we're trying to figure out more details as to the why. why pope benedict xvi has decided to retire. >> he made the announcement in front of a room of cardinals, the pope did. and the cardinals listened with great attention. i'm sure they did. all we have now is a statement from the pope. the key point being he talked about his health, it has deteriorated to the extent that i had to recognize my capacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. and health issues behind the pope's resignation. >> we'll take a quick break and be right back. ha ha ha!

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welcome back to "early start." shocking and historic breaking news. pope benedict xvi resigning. he made a statement this morning at the vatican. "after having repeatedly examined my con vens before god, i have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the petrine ministry." last day is february 28th. pope benedict will be 86 in april. the last pope to resign was in 1415, 600 years ago. >> we listened to a live press conference from the vatican, in which we didn't get more answers about exactly why. what is this ill health that the

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start." bre breaking news. something none of us have experienced or heard before. pope benedict xvi retiring. is he retiring due to age and declining health. is he 85 years old and will be 86 in april. the last pope to resign was pope gregory in 1415. >> stunning, historic event we're telling you about this morning. we're bring you developments as they unfold this morning. other news to tell you about right now. president obama today will award the medal of honor to a hero in the war in afghanistan. clint romesha helped to save the injured and retrieve the dead in afghanistan, despite a hole in his arm from a rocket propelled grenade. eight american soldiers were

killed, making the deadliest day for the u.s. that year. romesha, only the fourth living service member to be awarded the medal of honor. and president obama will deliver the state of the union address. jobs and the state of the economy will be featured prominently. and and it will unveil a plan to increase wages of american workers. >> headed to washington later today, we'll cover the state of thedown tomorrow morning and wednesday from washington. stay with cnn for complete coverage of the president's speech and analysis from the best political team in the business, begins tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern time. >> soledad o'brien with more on the pope's resignation. "early start," right back after this quick break. it should be under stephens. the verizon share everything plan for small business. get a shareable pool of data... got enough joshua trees? ... on up to 25 devices. so you can spend less time... yea, the golden barrels... managing wireless costs and technology

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february 28th. he is citing ill health. and uncertainty what that ill health will be. we're trying to get more details. unprecedented. >> hasn't happened in 600 years. so many questions. so much now that needs to happen with electing the new pope. we'll bring you the information coming up on "starting point" a few seconds from now. that's "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm sfwlor azoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. we begin with breaking news. pope benedict xvi resigning. age and fatigue are the reasons behind his resignation. here is what the statement reads in part "both strength of mind and body are necessary. strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that i have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me." this tweet came from the